European Movement Ireland
Encyclopedia
The European Movement Ireland (EM Ireland) is an independent not-for-profit that campaigns for every Irish person to get involved in the European Union
European Union
The European Union is an economic and political union of 27 independent member states which are located primarily in Europe. The EU traces its origins from the European Coal and Steel Community and the European Economic Community , formed by six countries in 1958...

 and by doing so, help shape it. It is the oldest Irish organisation dealing with the EU, pre-dating Ireland’s membership of the EU in 1973 by almost twenty years. The organisation is headed by Executive Director, Andrea Pappin and the current Board Chairman is Maurice Pratt.

History

On 11 January 1954, one hundred people met up in the Shelbourne Hotel
Shelbourne Hotel
The Shelbourne Hotel is a famous hotel situated in a landmark building on the north side of St Stephen's Green, in Dublin, Ireland. Currently operated by Marriott International, the hotel has 265 rooms in total and reopened in March 2006 after undergoing an eighteen-month refurbishment.John...

 in Dublin and founded the Irish Council of the European Union. Signing the Articles of Association
Articles of Association
The Continental Association, often known simply as the "Association", was a system created by the First Continental Congress in 1774 for implementing a trade boycott with Great Britain...

 that founded the European Movement
European Movement
The European Movement International is a lobbying association that coordinates the efforts of associations and national councils with the goal of promoting European integration, and disseminating information about it.-History:...

 were seven pioneers of Ireland’s future in Europe. They were: Donal O’Sullivan, University Lecturer; Garret Fitzgerald, Economist; Louis P F Smith, Economist; Denis Corboy, Barrister-at-Law; George J Colley, Solicitor; Declan Costello, Barrister-at-Law; and Sean J Healy, Secretary.

These seven signatories laid the first stone paving Ireland’s way to full EU membership. Their aim was to inform Irish individuals and organisations about the EU. One of their primary objectives was for Ireland to gain membership of the European Economic Communities (EEC) as the EU was then known. Dedicated individuals such as former Taoisigh Garret Fitzgerald and Jack Lynch, and former President Mary Robinson backed the initiative and Ireland entered the European Communities in 1972. Since then European Movement Ireland has continued its work on informing people about the work of the European Union, and answering their questions on the EU.

Current activities


Today, through a series of advocacy and education programmes, European Movement Ireland campaigns for every Irish person to get involved in the European Union and by doing so, help shape it, ensuring Europe gets discussed in Ireland every day not just on referendum day.
  • Advocacy Campaigns

European Movement Ireland runs a series of campaigns, and education and training programmes around the country. For 2010, European Movement Ireland has three campaigns – the Citizen's Initiative Campaign, the Grad Jobs Campaign and the Accountability Campaign.
  • Education and Training Programmes

European Movement Ireland operates a number of Education and Training Programmes designed to help people understand how the EU works while also getting people thinking and talking about Europe and the kind of Europe they want to live in. This includes the flagship education course – the EU in 20 Minutes. In this course, the organisation has distilled the EU down into 20 minutes, in which they explain what the EU is, who is involved and how it works, followed by questions. EM Ireland representatives travel around Ireland visiting schools and colleges, small businesses and large corporates, knitting groups and sports clubs to explain Europe and answer questions.

Also of note is the My Vision for Europe competition, where European Movement Ireland, working in partnership with a range of other Irish partners, challenge 15 to 17 year-olds to creatively express what their vision of Europe is.

European Movement International

European Movement Ireland is part of a pan-European network. European Movement
European Movement
The European Movement International is a lobbying association that coordinates the efforts of associations and national councils with the goal of promoting European integration, and disseminating information about it.-History:...

 International is a lobbying association that coordinates the efforts of associations and national councils with the goal of promoting European integration, and disseminating information about it. It seeks to encourage and facilitate the active participation of citizens and civil society organisations in the European Union as it develops. European Movement is represented in over 41 countries and has over 20 international organisations as members. The current President of European Movement is Cork’s Pat Cox. For a full list of all European Movement offices, and an outline of the history of the international network visit the EM International website at http://www.europeanmovement.eu/

External links

  • European Movement Ireland - The European Movement Ireland website
    Website
    A website, also written as Web site, web site, or simply site, is a collection of related web pages containing images, videos or other digital assets. A website is hosted on at least one web server, accessible via a network such as the Internet or a private local area network through an Internet...

  • European Movement - The International European Movement
    European Movement
    The European Movement International is a lobbying association that coordinates the efforts of associations and national councils with the goal of promoting European integration, and disseminating information about it.-History:...

    's central website
    Website
    A website, also written as Web site, web site, or simply site, is a collection of related web pages containing images, videos or other digital assets. A website is hosted on at least one web server, accessible via a network such as the Internet or a private local area network through an Internet...

    , in English
  • European Youth Parliament, Ireland - EYP Ireland Website
  • Europe United
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